Et cetera : NCCC FEMA Corps Pine 2 Volunteers on Great Gull Island

Pine 2 with Helen Hays, the director of the Great Gull Island Project

Steve Lyons repairing tern nesting boxes

By Leah Keith and Jeana DiBona

On May 10 AmeriCorps NCCC-FEMA Corps team Pine 2 boarded the Sunbeam VI, a small boat in Waterford, Connecticut, and headed for Great Gull Island, without any idea of the experience the 17-acre abandoned military fort would bring to the team. Pine 2 worked alongside seven community volunteers to prepare the island for the flocks of Common Terns and the endangered Roseate Terns, who spend the summer months nesting on the rocky shore.

When reflecting on the experience, team member Janae Peterson said, “Great Gull Island is just a small speck on the map, but it holds such a large place in the hearts of the faithful volunteers.” Melissa, the gourmet cook on the island throughout the summer months, has been driving supplies from New York to the island for over twenty years. Long-time volunteer Sterling strives to pass on his passion for The Great Gull Island Project to the next generation by sharing the experience with his two children. However, the person most committed to the island is undoubtedly Helen Hays, who has been the director of the ongoing project since 1969 when it began.

Helen Hays works for the American Museum of Natural History, which acquired Great Gull Island in 1949 from the military. Up to that point, the military had used the island as a fort known as Fort Michie in World Wars I and II. Hays, now well-known in the ornithology field, first visited the island in 1963 as a recent graduate of Wellesley College. By 1969, she had recruited enough volunteers to begin monitoring the Common and Roseate Terns, the latter of which is on the federal list of endangered species. She has spent five months of the year on Great Gull Island, which has no electricity or running water, ever since.

Pine 2 was grateful for the chance to be a part of this tradition by building nesting boxes, clearing debris and repairing fencing. The team’s hard work did not go unnoticed by Lisa, another dedicated volunteer, who claimed that the team “restored my faith in the younger generation.”